She sat in the room with no expression upon her face. There was a warmth in the air, the sun streaming through the window; however, with her back to it, it left her features in shadow.

That was the sight the duke saw upon entering.

“Lady Augstadt,” he said, his smile stiff and the words practically spat out.

“Your Grace,” she replied, no smile on her lips, the words spoken with neither warmth nor a chill.

He strode over to her with his fists clenched and stood there, towering for a long moment, before striding back to the seat opposite her. Still, he dragged it closer to her first, the sound of scraping wood filling the room, and only then did he sit down, so heavily the chair creaked.

“Pray tell, My Lady, why you thought it wise to visit—and now of all times?” he said.

Despite the hatred in his voice, she did not flinch. “It is because it is now that I would visit.”

He swallowed the words that rose up in his throat, then gestured for her to continue. “Go on.”

“Allow me to be clear on these matters,” she said, her voice still neutral. “I have come to offer assistance against the Poles.”

A laugh slipped out of him, crude and raspy, soon followed by his unrestrained laughter. “Do you think me a fool?” he asked.

Without hesitation, she answered, “I do.”

It was unexpected enough to give him pause, the humour dying on his lips. “You think I would fall into the same trap you made for my father?” he asked, no levity to his voice now.

“No. I expect you to fall into different traps,” she said.

His hands clenched once more, rising an inch only to slam back down with a slight thump. “Wonderful. Marvellous. I knew you had come here to court your own death, yet did not expect that you wished to try and infuriate me to death first. My sister always spoke so highly of you, I thought that you really had been behind the betrayal, yet clearly it is that Bavaria who came up with such a scheme and you simply did as you were told.”

She didn’t flinch. For all he stared, he didn’t see her move at all.

“Have you nothing to say? What happened to the bravado of a moment ago?” he asked, his voice a whisper on the verge of breaking into a scream.

“With all due respect, Your Grace, I care not for your thoughts on that matter,” she said, her voice unmoved. “I have come to offer assistance against the Poles.”

He let out a bark of laughter, his hands tight as he gripped the chair’s armrests. “So you have said.”

Silence fell as she said nothing and he stared at her, daring her to speak more nonsense. Given that she didn’t, he eventually relaxed, letting go of the chair.

“Give me a single reason why I should not put you to death.” There was no hatred in his voice now, instead cold and hollow.

“Your Grace, did you not learn of the incident I had with Isabelle?” she asked.

She took his silence as acknowledgement that he had.

“I know what it is like to lose a beloved father; however, Your Grace must accept that your father met his own end. He was careless in his wrath and he mistakenly thought me as callous as himself. I could only act as I believe is right. Even now, I have accepted that this may be my death, yet I must still offer my assistance against those who would attack our brethren,” she said.

Her words, like smoke, hung in the air after being spoken, only to be blown away by a wave of his hand. “Yes, My Lady has always spoken such sweet words. It is no wonder my sister and my father were fooled.”

“Does it make you feel better to think your father was tricked?” she asked.

His mouth twitched and hands clenched, and his eyes would not meet hers. “Did you not trick him?”

“As I said, it is his own fault,” she said, her tone a touch more gentle than before, then added, “Look at me.”

His erratic gaze stilled at her command, yet fell to his knees.

“I am but a girl,” she said, her voice breaking. “He wanted to kill Lord Bavaria’s wife, even his children. He wanted me to kill them. When I told him I couldn’t, he said he would arrange it, and I… I can only act as I believe is right. What crime had Lord Bavaria committed? What of his wife and children? Rather, your father was the one who had killed Lord Bavaria’s father. Tell me, did I choose wrong?”

His gaze hadn’t moved.

“Look at me! Look me in the eye and tell me I should have supported your father,” she said, unshed tears pooling.

Slowly, he looked up at the young woman before him. The young woman he had heard so much about over the years from his sister. How frail she now looked, reminiscent of how his sister had looked when the news of their father’s passing had been broken to her.

The tension left him and so he had nothing left. “Go,” he whispered. “Just go.”

It was her turn to clench her fists, yet seeing that only made him want to laugh. Who would fear her? “I have come to offer assistance against the Poles,” she whispered.

“There is no need. The King will raise an army to deal with them,” he said.

“What will happen until then? Your Grace, the Poles are not coming over for a visit. Do you think they will leave the crops in the field? Would they be so kind as to not rape the women and slaughter the men? Your garrisons are thin and your troops still guard the border with Bavaria.”

He took in a deep breath, once more finding fire stirring in his heart. “The King—”

“With all due respect, Your Grace, the King is not here. I am here and you are here. Now I ask, are you a ruler or are you not? Because, right now, your people need a ruler.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Pray tell, since you know everything, what am I to do? You of course know how many troops the Poles shall field, no?”

“I know they fielded approximately twenty thousand men against the Greeks, about a quarter of those cavalry. They fielded twenty-four bombards in most engagements. Of their infantry, as many as a fifth were armed with muskets, while two-fifths had long spears, the other two-fifths swords and short spears,” she said without a hint of hesitation.

The humour faded from his face. “So then you know how out-matched my forces would be,” he said, his tone controlled.

“Your Grace, may I ask a simple question?”

Her request hung in the air for a long moment before he finally nodded.

“They had twenty thousand men, yet still thought to bring twenty-odd bombards. Why is that?” she asked, a small smile on her lips.

“It is for assaulting forts,” he answered.

Her smile faded. “Your Grace, I watched ten bombards take out half a thousand men in the blink of an eye. I assure you, bombards have their place on the battlefield, and I have brought thirty to be at your disposal,” she said.

His tumultuous emotions flared; however, he bit them down. “I doubt King Sigismund would let you line up your bombards in front of his army.”

Silence fell, her gaze firmly on him as he reluctantly met it, only then that she spoke. “May I take it that Your Grace is willing to listen?”

“What harm could indulging you do?” he asked.

A smile tugged at her lips. “Indeed, what harm,” she said, then took a deep breath. “It would be disastrous to face the Polish army in open terrain. The muskets are more deadly than anything seen before. However, they have a key weakness—they must fire directly. That is, they cannot fire over even low ridges.

“Of course, they know this, which is why the bombards are so important. The bombards can fire over ridges and so force an engagement as one must choose by which gunpowder to die to. This is where my bombards come in. Simply put, they are superior and more mobile. In a prolonged exchange, we would easily eliminate their bombard crews, if not also the bombards.

“At this point, we may focus bombardment on their lines and our archers may fire freely over the ridge. If they wish to charge the ridge, then the infantry fall back and the bombards switch to canister shot. I cannot imagine the Poles maintaining their line after a volley.”

He listened closely and, at the end, broke into a smirk. “My Lady speaks of war as if it is something trivial.”

“It is precisely because King Sigismund is a capable commander that it should be so trivial,” she said, bowing her head.

Falling into thought, he said nothing for a good minute. “That is, I notice you made no mention of the Polish cavalry, which is a mistake many of their foes have made,” he said.

“Your Grace is considering my arrangement?” she asked.

He gave a wave. “The merits of an idea are inherent, unrelated to its origin,” he said.

With a soft smile, she continued. “Indeed, the Polish cavalry is a force to be reckoned with, so I would bring about their reckoning. I have brought some knights with me. Untrained they might be, but they may add some bulk to your own cavalry. While we may not go toe-to-toe with the Poles, if we put all our cavalry on one flank, I think it would be enough to dissuade them from charging that flank.

“On the other flank, we have your most disciplined pikemen. Finally, we have the trap—my bombards.”

His eyes said nothing. “So?” he asked.

“Your Grace, I know how many bombards the Poles will likely bring; however, would they know how many I should have?” she said, tilting her head at the end. “Twenty bombards would be enough to force them to act. Ten bombards placed behind the flank, loaded with canister shot—what does Your Grace think such a volley will do to the famed Polish cavalry?”

His blood ran cold. Although only a loose description, he could clearly imagine what her battle looked like, and he could only imagine the kind of devastation her bombards would render upon the fames hussars.

“If Your Grace does not trust me, keep me here as a prisoner. My commander is the one who understands this arrangement best. There is no need for me to accompany the men,” she said, ending with a gentle smile.

The fire in his heart died down at her words. “Your commander, yes,” he muttered, then spoke up. “That is, My Lady should stay here for safety regardless.”

“My thanks,” she said, bowing her head.

He watched her for a moment and then looked away. “Still, My Lady appears well-versed in matters of war.”

“My father… wished for me to know of many things that he hoped I need never have use for,” she said softly. “His greatest wish was for me to live in peace. If that was not possible, he hoped for me to be able to live through times of war.”

His mouth twisted into a smile. “Is that so?” he asked.

Her gaze settled on him for a long moment, heavy enough that he felt it weighing him down until he finally looked back at her, their eyes meeting. “I have said that which I must say as a ruler. Now, if I may speak as Julia, I beg of you, please do not subject Isabelle to my fate. I know how violent the fire of vengeance burns and I cannot say what depths I would fall if I knew who to blame for my father’s death.

“However, if those fires consume you, it is Isabelle who will have to take on your responsibilities with no one to help her. I have only a county to rule, yet it weighs heavily on me. Isabelle…. You know better than I what toll it would take on her.”

His eyes widened ever so slightly, as if he hadn’t considered what his death would bring. Indeed, she knew these men only thought of victory and triumph, never the consequences of failure.

She lowered her gaze. “King Sigismund is a most capable commander, and a ruthless one. Pray do not engage him lightly. I made it sound simple, yet that is the ideal. He wishes to pillage this land freely and so he must defeat Your Grace’s forces swiftly. Thus, even if the engagement is to his disadvantage, he will engage Your Grace nonetheless. However, it is enough to delay him. As Your Grace said, the King will eventually arrive,” she said.

He gently nodded. “Yes, that is…. I know I am not his equal.”

Silence began to tick, only to be broken by her. “Oh, I have sent word to Lord Bavaria that… this matter takes precedence. If he decides to take this as an opportunity, I have made it clear he should consider his wife and children Your Grace’s hostage.”

An empty laugh slipped through his lips. “So My Lady would do this for me and not for my father,” he muttered.

“Indeed. Your Grace, you have given me no reason to distrust you. You have not asked anything of me nor harmed me. I assure you, Your Grace, I am not so eager for enemies.”

She ended as if telling a joke, yet neither laughed. However, his voice did have a lighter tone when he then said, “Is that so?”

“It is,” she said, then brought her hands together. “Of course… I do wish to make amends for the part I played in all this. That I did what I believe to be right does not mean I think I am above reproach. So please, if Your Grace finds me guilty, I will not object.”

His lingering smile flattened out. “You are asking me to judge you?”

“No. It is God who shall judge me, and it is Your Grace who would decide if I shall be judged sooner than later,” she said.

After a moment, she looked up and met his gaze.

There was no fear in her eyes. God would judge her, she had said, and it looked like she truly believed that. Yet most would not face judgement so calmly. More than anything she had said before, he felt in this moment that she truly did believe she had acted righteously.

It was enough to make him laugh. “To think murdering my father could be just,” he whispered.

“Pardon, Your Grace?” she said.

He waved her off and his hand came back to settle on his lap. “It is not good to speak of death so lightly nor should one be so eager to meet one’s maker,” he said.

Her hands clenched on her lap. “Your Grace is showing mercy?” she whispered.

So much had happened in this short meeting that he could barely recall it all. However, what was clear to him was that, beneath Countess Augstadt, there was still Julia. All her years in the King’s palace had taught her how to put on act, but it still just that: an act.

“You must be tired after travelling so far. Pray wait here and I shall have a suitable room arranged for My Lady,” he said, standing up.

“My thanks.”

It was such a quiet whisper that, if he had not seen her lips move, he would have thought it the wind.

Nothing else needed to be said. He left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving her alone. She stayed seated until she heard his footsteps trail away outside the room, then stood up herself and walked to the window, looking out.

The view was gentle on this side of the manor. Rather than a bustling town, there was a forest, kept in good order for hunting. Closer, some guards patrolled the garden in these times of trouble.

Her gaze fell on a shadow at the forest’s edge. After a moment, she shook her head, then returned to her seat in the room.

This was within her plans.